(No it was nothing like that I promise. I just didn't get the email and then got distracted by dinner and Torchlight. And sorry for the delay today, I was watching the presidential debate. It's a thing in this house.)

Lucky it was Snooze who said it first in this 'verse, then, or things could've gotten awkward. Oh, man, why didn't we do that? That maybe Thaeyed had claimed Mitz despite neither of them believing they were right, and then Snooze keeps trying to steal Mitz away but Mitz is suffering from noble loyalty and won't leave the abusive Sentinel.

Yeah? /Yeah/. Oh, hey, I know: Thaeyed and Mitz move to Gotham, because Thaeyed's intending to take Gotham away from Damian Wayne once Bruce is dead.

(especially in this debate with all the sweat pouring off him and the excessive blinking and the weird ass universal-heterosexual-angle-of-longing half-smile he does every single time he stops talking and most of the time when he /is/ talking anyway)

Siiiiiiiiiiigh Thaey, you are a massive douche XD Ugh oh man, I just - Mitz is so confusing in his head. He's all "I SHOWED YOU MOTHER" because he has a Sentinel and he's strong and ambitious but also a mean guy and kind of horrible but he says that Mitz is his all the time, so he's super possessive and protective and that makes him smile - and kind of makes him want to curl up and die at the same time.

He's possessive and protective and yet probably thoroughly verbally abusive and Mitz can't do a thing without it being cleared through Thaey, like even talking to Jerel on the phone Thaey has to be there listening and knowing what Mitz is doing, and Thaey's probably on the road to being physically abusive, too. They should be older, here, too, if they're moving into Gotham on their own. Maybe sixteen or seventeen?

I think if I took him, I'd make it too easy for Snooze to win any argument against him, heh. Plus, who knows better than you how to make Thaey appeal to Mitz's sense of being needed and hated at the same time?

Snort, this is true. H'okay, excellent. Eeee I love breaking Mitz's spirit. And it comes pre-broken by the time he meets Snooze! Awesome. I imagine it'll be something like Thaey and him showing up and all the Bats going a little crazy because there's another Sentinel in town and usually that means another criminal? So they would check things out, no?

(Worst rapper ever. His stuff just keeps going around in circles and doesn't even rhyme!)

They definitely would. Bruce doesn't like challenges to his territory. If there's another Sentinel in town, he checks it out without a doubt--which would be how he met Talia and then Selina, to be honest. And having a new Sentinel in town to track is a good exercise for the boys. Though Bruce isn't sure about testing Snooze. He doesn't want the boy to zone in the middle of the ghetto. Still, he can't leave him behind and take the others.

So it becomes something of a training exercise. Bruce puts the boys onto the scent, and the Guides--with Alfred standing in for Snooze--keep them anchored as they trek through the city. Damian picks up the secondary scent of the Guide first.

When it's pointed out, Snooze gets a strange look on his face. Bruce tells himself to keep an eye on his youngest, but even he's starting to get distracted by the territorial hormones the new Sentinel seems to be putting out. There are certain shops and streets which seem to have been... for lack of a better word, claimed. That gets right up Bruce's nose.

(maybe it would sound better if he dropped the beatoh wait nothing sounds better once you drop the beat)

Thaey's on edge. It's not in a particularly bad way, really. He's been dragging Mitz around the neighbourhood, going into diners and shops seemingly at random and spending time there. Mitz knows what he's doing, and there's a hint of pride that goes along with it, but he thinks it's a little reckless. Everyone knows who the Sentinel of Gotham is. Mitz doesn't want to get into trouble.. but to be honest, he would rather get into trouble with Bruce Wayne than bear the brunt of Thaey's anger if he fought it. But that night he has to sit through Thaey being on edge.

"There's a bunch of them," Thaey says, not really talking to Mitz but addressing the room he's in. He doesn't want Mitz to reply, anyway. "I can smell them.

(shhhh dropping the beat makes everything better this is what rap artists have taught us over the years)

Bruce stakes them out around the neighbourhood where the scent of the unfamiliar Sentinel is strongest. Bart and Tim are assigned to a coffee-shop; Damian and Colin take the back booth at one of the diners; Bruce and Jason stop on a rooftop across from the apartment building where they're sure the Sentinel is hiding out.

Hiding isn't the best word for it, Snooze thinks, from his place in the park.

He and Alfred are pretending to be grandfather-and-grandson, Alfred teaching Snooze to play chess on the tables in the park. Never mind that Snooze was taught chess by one of Selina's 'friends', an Indian rajah, as a young child and can nearly beat Bruce; they put on a show as they keep an eye on the entrance to the park and the street beyond. They're backup for Bruce and Jason, since Snooze isn't a real Sentinel.

Well. He is a real Sentinel. But he's not any good to anyone, not like he is. He zones more often than he should, or sometimes wakes up deaf, or unable to taste anything. Alfred works with him nearly every day to settle his senses down, but it's helping less and less the older he gets.

Anyway. It's not hiding. The Sentinel and his Guide aren't hiding, from what the Waynes have managed to work out. They're moving into the city. For what reason, Snooze doesn't know. But he can guess. Damian's not the most stable person. This might just be the first Sentinel of many who come to challenge his right to inherit the territory of Gotham city.

Thaey has no intention of hiding out. He's here for a reason and being sneaky about it isn't going to work here. He would if he could, 'course, but he can't. He'd end up losing. And Thaey doesn't lose. He looks out the window and makes a thoughtful noise before moving to where Mitz is sitting and grabs his wrist, yanking him to standing and pulling him out of the room. "C'mon, we're going to the roof. Wait until you see the size of this guy," he says, mouth twisting into a kind of smile. "You're not allowed to piss yourself, you wimp. You'll embarrass me."

"I won't," Mitz promises quietly. "Really I won't."

"And stand downwind," Thaey goes on. "And soon as they see you, they'll know, but they'll probably be able to tell that you're a weak link as soon as they smell you. They'll go for you. And that can't happen. Why?"

Snooze's lips quirk into something resembling a smile at the praise. "Thanks, Alfred."

They make their way to the edge of the park closest the street where the Sentinel lives. If they come out on this side, Snooze will be able to track them, he tells himself. His sense of smell hasn't played up in weeks, he should be able to handle it. And his sense of hearing is top notch at the moment. He sticks his hands in his pockets to ward off the cold and tunes into the footsteps and smells in the building, pairing the senses so he doesn't zone on one.

They get to the roof and Thaey walks them close to the edge, looking directly at the Sentinel and Guide across from them. Mitz knows what he's talking about, now. Bruce Wayne is standing right there like a veritable wall of a man, and he makes his Guide look small beside him. Mitz can tell he's not, though. He glances at the door to the roof behind him and judges the size of the man by that. They're both hulking masses of muscle and aggression - and they're not happy in the slightest.

"Thaey," he says, trying to warn him. Thaeyed holds up his hand to shut him up. It works.

He doesn't raise his voice. He knows that Wayne'll be able to hear him. He's cocky enough to know that he'll be able to hear everything that Wayne says to him. "Bruce Wayne," he says, nodding in Bruce's direction. He sounds almost businesslike. He touches his chest. "Thaeyed Korba. I'll be your new heir."

Snooze glances at Alfred, who just smiles reassuringly. Is this some kind of test? Snooze knows there are two people up there: he can hear two heartbeats underlying the talking. "There's someone else up there. How do I tell if they're a Guide? His Guide?"

"You can smell if a Guide is bonded or not. It's a certain chemical they put out. Should there be a Guide with him, they will most likely be bonded," Alfred says. "You should be able to compare their scent to a scent that Tim, Colin or Jason also emanate."

Snooze takes a deep breath--and then another, reaching out to the air currents. They're downwind of the building; he doesn't have to work as hard to smell the two people on the rooftop. They smell like cheap food and dusty apartment, like an old, oily car and like each other. Snooze zeroes in on the not-Sentinel, and tries to identify the Guide chemical.

The Guide smells /good/. The sound of the street and Alfred clicking on his communicator fades; so, too, fade heartbeats and car engines and dog barks. Snooze zones on the warm, comforting scent of the Guide.

Thaey glances at Wayne's Guide, but doesn't answer him directly. He talks to Bruce. "You'll get used to me. And I'm not going to demand a spot, don't you worry," he says, opening his palms peaceably. Mitz shifts from foot to foot behind him - the anger of the Sentinel and Guide on the other building is getting to him, and he's not even used to being in a city this big yet. He's pretty sure someone just got dumped three blocks down and they're ruining his concentration and it...kind of feels like there's someone zoning nearby. He turns to look down the street but his attention is brought back to Thaey when he speaks again. "I'll fight your current heir. Fair's fair, right?"

"There are at least four who stand in line before you," Bruce says, finally breaking his silence. He settles one hand in the curve of Jason's spine, to calm him down; he doesn't want Jason going off at the new Sentinel for ignoring him.

Alfred stops what he's doing, researching, immediately. "Bruce, Snooze has zoned," he says quietly, and takes Snooze's arm to lead him back to the car. "I'll take him home." Snooze is difficult to move, almost like he's resisting being led away, but Alfred manages to get him to the car in the nearby parking garage and bundles him into the backseat. He sits with him for a few moments, trying to draw him out of the zone, but it looks to be a deep one.

He's not even sure what caused it. His brow furrows with concern as he gets in the front and starts up the car.

Thaey gets his smirk back, now that Bruce has finally acknowledged him. "And I'll take them on as well. For now, since I'm new to town, I'll just do what I need to do to keep this apartment. Your territory, but not, while I work on staking my claim. Which I will." He paces a little, looking down the side of the building at the people below them that have no idea what's going on. "I can have my Guide talk to yours about what you decide," he offers.

Mitz looks away, to the ground. It's respectful, or meant to be, in case Bruce decides to look at him.

Bruce does look, and he sees a cocky Sentinel and a Guide who's been cowed into obeying. What he doesn't see--or smell--is evidence of a bond. That's curious, but not unheard of. Sometimes Guides willingly follow and help Sentinels to whom they're not bonded. Alfred is a prime example.

Cataloguing the curious mix of scents between the two to analyse later, Bruce says, coolly, "This city is wholly my territory."

"And if you wanna live here, you gotta make a proper and /respectful/ application to the Sentinel of the City," Jason adds. "Don't fuckin' look through me like I'm not here, kid, I've got decades of experience on you."

Thaey's lip curls a little at being talk down to like that from Jason, but he schools his expression into something a little more friendly. Charming, even, if he were talking to idiots. "Right," he says, talking to Jason. He raises his voice, though, and speaks slowly. "Tell me the application process, then, and I'll get on that. But I'm not leaving." He stands firm. Solidly.

Mitz tells himself that he's very lucky to have a Sentinel this confident in his abilities. He was even going to give Mitz something to do, trusts him not to mess it up - hopefully. Mitz is very lucky. So lucky. His head turns to the side, though; whoever was zoning isn't zoning any more, as far as he can tell. That Sentinel must be paired with someone really good. Mitz always finds it hard to bring Thaey back when he goes.

"I'm going to be your heir," he tells Bruce, seriously. "I'm willing to take the time to convince you of this."

"It has a lot to do with calling before you settle in, and making a meeting at the Sentinel's place of business to have a fuckin' formal discussion," Jason snaps. He's /not/ liking the waves of irritation and smugness both rolling off this Sentinel, and he's basically making all of this up as it goes along, but it sounds pretty correct.

And Bruce still hasn't taken his hand off the curve of Jason's lower back, so he must be doing something right.

As Alfred drives out of the parking garage, he passes Damian and Colin, who've shifted from their spot at the diner to the street to back Bruce and Jason up should things turn nasty. Damian looks vaguely concerned as he glances at the car, but then his attention shifts back to the main action. It isn't like this is the first time this has happened, and Snooze has always come out of it before.

(So I'm thinking he doesn't come out of it this time--that when they get zoned on their Guide for the first time, it's gotta be the Guide who brings them out of it, like a preliminary bonding ritual? So Snooze'll stay sunk in it, Bruce won't want to leave the Manor, and Thaey and Mitz will have to come to the Manor to continue any heir-related discussions.)

Thaey spreads his arms wide. He smiles. "This is a little more interesting, though, right?"

Mitz shifts around on the balls of his feet; the Guide in front of them is so angry and it's all directed at Thaey. He steps forward, walking softly so he doesn't annoy Thaeyed at all - and startles when Thaey looks at him. "Sorry," he says straight away. He clears his throat. "But - uh. Maybe we should do what they say. For now. I mean...I, uh."

"No-one asked you," Thaey says. He doesn't sound angry or condescending or anything. It's just a fact. Who would ask Mitz, anyway?

(This sounds perfect and horrible at the same time. Also, Mitz bringing Snooze out of a zone will drive him bananas jealous.)

Thaey looks at Mitz and nods, playing their game. Mitz looks up at Jason and - boy, is he scary, wow. Mitz clears his throat. "Mitz, my name is Mitz," he tells the /gigantic/ Guide, holy hell, he should be a Sentinel.

Jason nods. The kid still has some kind of backbone, at least. That's something. His Sentinel hasn't broken him completely. "Good to meet you. I'm Jason." He glares daggers at Thaey. It's just--god, even to Jason it's common freaking courtesy to ask the names of /both/ the people you're dealing with.

Mitz flinches at the weight of Jason's aggression, then nods and steps back again. "Right, yeah, Jason," he says under his breath, like he doesn't even notice he's doing it. Thaey watches him, rolling his eyes a little, then looks back at Bruce and Jason.

"Alright. By your rules, then. Can I arrange a formal meeting?" he says, just about managing to keep from grinding his teeth at how slow this process will be. Much easier to announce himself and then kick asses, like he had planned.

"Understood," Thaey says, businesslike. He makes a note to talk to Mitz about how Jason is a prime example of how not to act. The strong and silent act might work for Wayne, but it won't be like that when Thaey is in charge.

Jason salutes the odd couple and makes his way off the edge of the roof. He's still keeping tabs on Snooze and Alfred from afar and Mitz, too, because there's something not right about the way the kid acts around his Sentinel. He's lucky he's able to split his attention so many ways at once and still have room, lots of room, left over for Bruce.

Thaey pauses for a moment, looking at Bruce and taking him in. Recognising the power there, and then promising himself that he's going to be better than the old man in front of him. He turns on his heel and, while walking, puts a hand on the back of Mitz's neck to steer him back downstairs without saying a word.

Mitz seems to shrink, but doesn't protest. For Jason paying attention? It's a mixture of fear and relief.

Both of which concern Jason. Fear--it spiked as soon as the hand closed around his neck. Relief--that happened more as he was steered away from Bruce, into the building. Jason doesn't enjoy what thoughts arise from either of those emotions at either of those times. He waits at the elevator for Bruce to join him, patiently texting Colin and Tim to continue keeping an eye on Thaey and Mitz in case they do anything rash.

"We heading home?" Jason asks when Bruce comes into view.

"Snooze zoned," Bruce says. "Alfred's not sure on what. Let's go."

(cut around here-ish?oh, hey--by all means, detail Thaey's punishment of Mitz, if Mitz has earned any yet >:D)

Thaey and Mitz sit in silence for a while. It's Mitz's go-to state, since talking too much makes Thaey pissed off at him; Mitz goes from topic to topic too quickly and it gives Thaey headaches, which isn't good for both of them. And the last fifteen minutes were pretty stressful, even if Thaey doesn't want to admit it.

Thaey just doesn't want to talk while Bruce and his Guide are still in the area. He stays close to the window, trying to track them as much as possible. He lets go of Mitz, gesturing at him to go order food for them - which he does, quietly, in another room. When he comes back, Thaey pulls him close so he has something to anchor him while he tries to track Wayne.

Once they're in the clear, he turns to Mitz. "Don't ever talk to me, or anyone, like that Guide talked today," he warns. He puts his hand on Mitz's shoulder and /grips/. It's not so much aggressive as it is possessive - okay, it's aggressive, but it's not as bad as it could be. "I bet Wayne was furious with him. Can you imagine?"

Mitz says nothing. He wasn't really asked, after all. He just nods, as much as he can, and puts a hand on Thaey's knee in an effort to calm him down.

(We can cut there, I reckon, yeah. Mitz isn't going to be punished for anything right now, not for the rooftop talk anyway. He's more freaked about Jason than Mitz to be honest. Though if Mitz messed up the take-out order in any way, he would find himself in a buttload of trouble, whoo. hmmmm next scene Thaey and Mitz showing up for the Talk with Bruce? Or, no, the family trying to get Snooze out of the zone, maybe?)

(The family trying to get Snooze out of the zone would just involve a lot of different people sitting and trying to engage Snooze's senses, mostly by talking to him or giving him interesting things to smell or things to touch. So it'd probably be better to skip to Thaey and Mitz arriving for the Business Talk... at which point, of course, Bruce refuses to leave his youngest son's side, so they're going to have to come to him.)

Thaey and Mitz step out of the taxi in the Wayne driveway. Mitz takes a breath to calm his nerves, since he's never seen anywhere so lush and extravagant. Thaey thumps him on the back - Mitz thinks it's meant to be friendly, but it winds him a little. He's such a wet noodle.

"One day, Simba, all this will be ours," Thaey says, looking around.

"I don't think that's how the quote goes," Mitz says without thinking. He flinches before Thaey moves - but all he does is fix Mitz's collar on his shirt.

"Don't," Thaey says quietly, dangerously. "Don't ever correct me in front of other people. I'm your Sentinel. No matter what, you have to live in the world that I protect and live in. And if I say that, in that world, a quote goes a certain way...?"

"Right, sorry, I just - I wasn't thinking, I -"

"No, you weren't," Thaey hits him up the side of his head once his collar is tidied up. "Work on that. C'mon." He takes Mitz's wrist, like before, and drags him too fast up the steps to the main doors. He knocks and stands tall.

Alfred answers the door. "Welcome, Mister Korba, Mister Stillhaven," he says, stepping aside to let them inside. "I'm sure Mister Wayne will be along in a moment." He's reluctant to tell them about Snooze--reluctant to talk about Snooze at all. He feels like if he talks about Snooze being in a zone which he doesn't seem to be coming out of, it will be all the more real.

Alfred notes the disdain the Sentinel feels for him, but keeps a tight hold on his own judgement. He's sure Thaey is a very nice boy. Somewhere under all of the teenage douchery. He takes Mitz's hand and smiles at him. "My name is Alfred, Master Mitz. Can I take your coat?"

Mitz's smile falters for a second and he shakes his head. "No, no. Just Mitz. Really," he says hurriedly, turning to take the coat that Thaey shrugs off. He takes a little bit longer to take off his with Thaey's in his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Here. Thank you."

Thaey kicks Mitz's shoe but doesn't look at him. Mitz winces a little, then smiles at Alfred again. "Do you mind if we sit somewhere and wait for Mr. Wayne, Alfred?"

"Of course. The lower drawing room was opened this morning, it's quite lovely in there with the morning light. This way, if you please," Alfred says. he takes the coats and leads them to the drawing room. "Would you like tea?"

"No, thank you," Mitz says, trotting up to talk to Alfred. He keeps an eye on Thaey's mood, which is pretty good all things considered, as he talks. "Thaeyed doesn't like stimulants in his body, and I'm not - I'm alright, thank you. We'll just wait."

Thaey actually inclines his head behind Mitz and Alfred - Mitz letting Alfred know how Thaeyed likes things. Means that there might be a chance of keeping the butler around when he takes over the territory. Would be nice to have a butler who knows the place, even if he is a Guide that smells at least four different people.